United fail to hide the cracks

Money talks: Manchester United players pose during a press conference in London

By Mihir Bose

12:01AM GMT 02 Dec 2003

Manchester United's glitzy Mayfair launch of a new sponsorship deal yesterday struggled to disguise the problems behind the scenes at the club. The Premiership champions announced a £36 million, four-year agreement with Vodafone, yet questions centred on manager Sir Alex Ferguson's unsigned new contract and the potential takeover of the club by American businessman Malcolm Glazer.

United hired Claridge's in Mayfair to stage the launch. Steve Ryder, who normally presents grander occasions such as the Open and the US Masters, acted as the host and four United players, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Christiano Ronaldo sat in the front row, saying nothing and looking bemused.

The deal, which starts next June, is worth £6 million more than the present one with Vodafone, and will see United host a pre-season tournament featuring what Ferguson said would be the best teams from Europe and South America.

It is a good deal in the present football climate. United made all the right marketing noises. It was "a marriage of equals", according to David Gill, the United chief executive. A union "of the world's largest football club with 53 million supporters and the world's largest mobile phone provider". Yet the public relations-orchestrated event was about masking United's difficulties - both Gill and Ferguson worked hard to pretend that there were no problems.

However, he admitted that if the Irish duo should ask for a seat on the Old Trafford board then United would have to consider it and that would take Ferguson's legal case with Magnier to an entirely different level.

And why was Gill in the United States, so preventing him from getting together with Ferguson? Because he had flown out to meet Glazer, the tycoon who owns Tampa Bay Buccaneers and last week increased his stake in United to 14.3 per cent, prompting fears of a takeover at Old Trafford.

Glazer recently missed out on buying one of America's most famous baseball teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers, from News Corp.

Gill, who had never met him, said he was not worried about takeover talk but when asked how long he expected United, who are now largely owned by half a dozen rich individuals, to remain a public company said sharply: "If I knew that I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."

Glazer may or may not be a Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea. However, Gill has no doubt that there is no need for an Abramovich, though when asked how United were going to match the Russian's £100 million spending in the last six months, he had to admit that it had taken United 12 years to spend as much, with £55 million of that spending on transfers coming in the last three years.

Ferguson, who can be as skilful with words as he is with his team formation, decided to joke when asked whether the £36 million from Vodafone would go for players in the January transfer window. "All of it? I see no reason why not," he said. Then, after the laughter had died down, he added more thoughtfully about transfers: "It's never as easy as everybody thinks."

United would spend some money - "We have some ideas," Ferguson said - but not in the grand Chelsea style.

However, unlike Gill, Ferguson welcomed Chelsea's arrival in the big league. "You should not deny anybody progress," he added. "There has always been a gulf in football. Can you rule out Newcastle and Liverpool? Potentially the other big clubs are Tottenham and Wolverhampton Wanderers."

United and Chelsea are still to resolve the departure of United's former chief executive, Peter Kenyon, to the London club. United are playing tough and asking for compensation of about £2 million. Kenyon is on gardening leave, paid by United but unable to go to any football match.

Gill denied newspaper reports that the matter had been discussed on Sunday when United played, and lost, at Chelsea, saying: "You must not believe everything you read in the papers. We did the usual things at the match." Then, glancing down at Keane, he added: "And ate our prawn sandwiches," in a reference to Keane's remarks about corporate hospitality ruining the atmosphere at Old Trafford matches.